|
NEWS
October
2002
Page
6
-
Nick
Interview Transcript - Australia Herald Sun
back up
Source: Herald Sun (Australia)
Nick Carter Q&A
Nick Carter tells NEALA JOHNSON how it feels to be the first solo
Backstreet Boy.
Are you happy with your first solo album, Now Or Never?
Yeah, I’m ecstatic about it.
Does it feel different to be talking about a project that’s
come from you, and you alone?
Yeah, it’s different. I mean, it’s weird because I’ve got
so much to say. It’s like, man, I didn’t realise I had so much I
wanted to talk about.
Why was Help Me chosen as your first single?
First of all, I didn’t write the song. But the songs that I
didn’t write on the album, I’d listen to ‘em before I’d
record them, and if it didn’t, word-wise, have anything to do with
what I’m trying to say, or what I’m going through in my life, I
didn’t need to record it. So that song right here, it hit home
with where I’m at right now. It talks about how I’m trying to
find my way, and I’m soul-searching. You know, I’m 22 and I’ve
gone through the business and there’s a lot of stuff in this
business that can really mess with a young kid.
Do you look at what you’ve been through with the Backstreet
Boys and wonder how you came out with your sanity intact?
Yep. Definitely. There’s a lot of situations that make me
think, God, man, how did I even get there? But getting through those
things and learning only makes people stronger, from what I’ve
noticed (laughs). And thank God I’ve been blessed and I’ve been
able to learn, and learn quickly, and not do ‘em again.
Have you written or co-written many songs on Now Or Never?
Most of the songs, I’ve co-written. But even though I co-wrote
with people, a large portion is my ideas. Everything on the album,
it’s very personal. It’s stuff that I either have gone through,
or I really, really love, or would love to have. So whoever listens
to the songs, they’re going to be able to tell what I’ve been
going through for the past how long, because I’ve been able to use
the writing as a therapy. Instead of writing in a diary, I wrote it
on paper and recorded it.
Who did you write with?
I worked with Max Martin again. I did some stuff with Teddy
Riley (Joe, Mary J. Blige), I did some stuff with Guy Chambers
(Robbie Williams) and Steve Mac (Westlife) in England. But I’ve
also worked with a lot of underdogs, people who are on the up,
people who’ve really got a lot to say.
Are you nervous that Now Or Never is an open book, without four
other guys to hide behind?
I know it’s gonna be very open, and I’m prepared for that.
Very prepared. But hey, I’m willing to tell people, finally,
through the music, about stuff I’ve been going through. I think
the fans wanna know.
You’re still part of one of the most popular bands in the
world, so what are you hoping a solo album will achieve for
you?
Personally, I’m not really into the whole success thing to the
point where I need it to be this huge magnitude or anything. What I
really want is (for) it to be successful in my own mind and my heart
and in my soul. I’ve been very happy recording it. I’m very
positive right now, and all the positive stuff I put into the music.
And what I would like to do is bleed through to the fans, so it can
possibly make them happy, too. That’s the main goal, for the fans
that are still there wanting to listen to new music, I wanna just
make them happy. So that’s why I tried to make feel-good
music.
Will the songs surprise your fans?
In general, the music’s gonna surprise them. But it’s what
influenced me, it’s like a rock feel. I’ve been very influenced
by rock since I was very little. I knew I wanted guitars, and I knew
I wanted a lot of live music.
How heavy do those guitars get?
They’re not that heavy, I mean it’s not like Metallica. You
know what it is? To me it’s a new pop, it’s a new type of pop
music that I’m trying to do.
Are there plans to tour the album?
It would be fun, but right now I’m just livin’ day by day
and seein’ how it goes. But hey, I’m definitely gonna be
promoting it, so that means I’m gonna be going out all around the
world and gettin’ down with the fans again.
So you might spend longer in Australia than the 14 hours you were
here with the Backstreet Boys in 2000?
Oh, I know (laughs). I’m gonna make sure I get over
there.
Did you do things on this album you didn’t know you
could?
I didn’t know that I was able to write a song the way I’ve
written songs, and I didn’t realise I could sing the way I sang.
It was all very eye opening to me, I didn’t expect it. I’m not
the kind of person that’s so confident in myself that I can be
like, ‘Yeah, I can do this!’. I’ve always been very … I
dunno (laughs). I just didn’t expect myself to be able to do
something like that.
Stories on the Internet have said other members of the Backstreet
Boys are unhappy about you making a solo album. Should we believe
any of the rumours?
I don’t know if it’s true. I’ve heard some things about
that, but I don’t believe the guys would be like that.
So, by the sound of it, while the band has been on a break, you’ve
been taking a complete break from each other as well?
It’s not a break from each, it’s more, I really wanted to do
this. And we’re gonna get back in … I’m gonna get back … I
would love to get back with them and record some music.
How much work will you be able to put in behind your solo album
if two days after it’s released you have to jump back on board
with the Backstreet Boys?
Well, I guess that’s why I’m taking everything day by day.
‘Cos I’m really happy doing what I’m doing.
Help Me (Zomba) out now. Now Or Never out October 28.
-
People
Magazine Article About Brian and Leighanne
back up
Source: People Magazine
By: J.D. Heyman. Pamela Warrick & Teena Hammond in Los Angeles
Ca. Gary McKechnie in Orlando, FL
When you're a pop idol, a simple errand can turn into a Survivor
episode. Last April, Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell and his wife,
Leighanne, stopped by a drug store near their Atlanta home to buy a
$16 pregnancy kit, and the last thing they wanted was to give the
tabloids gossip fodder. "Brian ducked behind a shelf, and I got
in line", says Leighanne, who panicked when she saw that the
object of their quest was under lock and key. "I babbled to the
pharmacist about my sister needing a pregnancy test", she says.
"Then I bought two value packs to be sure--neither of us wanted
to go back."
They won't have to. By September the rest of the world had learned
what the couple had known since their furtive purchase: A Backstreet
Boy is on the way, and fittingly, it's a boy.
The news is yet another sign that the Boys--who sold more than 65
million records in the 90's--are all grown up. "Some people think
of us as the kids we were back when we started", says Littrell,
27, of the dreamboat spell he helped cast with Kevin Richardson, 31,
Nick Carter, 22, A.J. McLean, 24, and Howie Dorough, 29. "We're
men now: Kevin's married, A.J.'s engaged, I'm going to be a daddy--and
that's how it should be."
It hasn't all gone quite as planned. "The first time, when we
thought we were pregnant but turned out not to be, we were surprised
at how disappointed we felt," says Littrell. "So the second
time we were both extremely nervous. I remember we both walked
hand-in-hand into the bathroom to read the test. We saw that straight
line that means you're pregnant and we didn't know whether to be happy
or sad. We were in a state of shock."
The shock quickly gave way to elation. But when Littrell's son arrives
sometime during the holiday season, it's unclear whether all the other
Backstreeters will be there to pass around cigars. "There haven't
been a lot of calls congratulating us", says Leighanne, 33.
Richardson demurs. In the summer, 'when Brian told us about the new
baby at a recording session we were all very happy for him", he
says. Though the other Boys declined to be interviewed, "we are
still together", says Richardson, "but we also have to give
each other space." Littrell agrees: "We don't see a lot of
each other except when we're working. We all have our own lives
now."
Littrell's wife Leighanne Wallace began after he met the actress on
the set of the Boys' 1997 video "As Long As You Love Me."
They soon started dating, and a year later Leighanne was at Brian's
bedside when he had surgery to repair a congenital heart defect.
"Since then", she says, "I never had a doubt we'd be
together." But his bandmates did, she says, after the couple wed
in September of 2000: "Some of them had bets we wouldn't last a
year."
These days some may wonder how much longer Backstreet itself will
last. In recent years the boy band has suffered from public growing
pains. McLean entered rehab for alcohol abuse and depression last
summer. Then, in March, all but Carter elected to leave The Firm; the
band's L.A. based managers. Jane Carter, Nick's mother, says his
independence rankled the others. "They've pressured Nick to quit
the band", she says. Not so, says Littrell, who contends that
they all support Nick's solo effort--Now or Never, due out this
month--and that Backstreet's youngest member has already rejoined the
others in working on a new album.
Would Littrell ever consider going down his own road? "A solo
album? I suppose I still have that as a goal someday', he says. A
Baptist, he may pursue a Christian-music career. "Brian sings a
lot of gospel music", says Leighanne.
But with a baby on the way, "our priorities have changed",
says her spouse, spreading a blanket for the two of them on a friend's
grassy lawn in L.A. "I've put on a good 20 lbs. since we got
pregnant", he says, shaking his head at his burgeoning girth.
"I've definitely had the pregnant brain, forgetting everything
like crazy."
And putting other things--like music--on hold. Right now, "I'm
just going to be writing lullabies for my little boy", he says.
Not to worry fans. "He'll always be a Backstreet Boy", says
Leighanne. "Even if he's somebody's daddy too."
-
AJ
Interview with KIIS (LA) 18 Oct 2002
back up
Source: KIIS FM - LA
Posted @ the LiveDaily BSB forum
Here are the main points:
* Sarah doesn't want AJ's help on a record deal and he said he called
different record labels for her but he wants her to stand on her own
feet and he wants to see her succeed but not on his behalf.
* He's going to his AA meetings every single day and he's got 16
months sober. He only watches golf and not paying attention to the
World Series.
* AJ played JoJo a few demo tracks a while ago that may or may make
album (not on the air). He's been writing non stop everyday and he
doesn't want to piss off any of his boys but he's working on stuff for
his solo album and that won't be released anytime soon. He has a
studio in his house so he's been doing his stuff as much as possible.
And they're letting "Nick get his solo thing out of his
system" and March of next year they start working on the new cd.
There will be a single out next spring and an album out next summer.
He sang a part of this song called "Back in the day" that
he's been working with Matrix and his wife.
* He talked about how he met Sarah. He was sick with the flu and he
didn't want to go out clubbing and his friends took him to a karaoke
place on Sunset and he saw Sarah there in neon pink boots. She got up
to sing Aretha Franklin "Respect" and was like "oh
god.. this white girl is going to sing Aretha Franklin" .. But
she started singing and he was floored. A week later he had his
birthday party and they hung out there and got to know each other.
* He didn't decide he wanted to go to rehab. They had a day off on
Sunday in Boston. The night before he was up partying but he didn't
drink or do coke like he did in the past. The next day he didn't want
to wake up and Kevin broke his door down and had a fight with him and
told him that he hates him and that he's worthless and never wants to
speak to him and he said it out of anger..
* He said Kevin is a perfectionist and AJ said that he's lazy and laid
back and he was always partying and his voice wasn't the same
anymore.. He was too busy "popping pills and doing blows"
and he was bringing everyone down including his girlfriend. So he was
shocked to see Kevin react like that but it was a wake up call for
him.
* He had his shrink on the road with him.. He's on anti depressants
now which is better for him since he's more happier and if he could go
back to rehab, he would go back since it's more peaceful and happier.
He said he could have left rehab the night he checked in since he went
in and gave his blood tests and most people have to be there for
days/weeks to detox. He didn't have to detox since he didn't have
anything in his system. So with him, it wasn't that bad in terms of
what was in his system at the time..
* In rehab, they separate the men from the women because there's
"sex, love, relationships addicts." People who excessively
masturbate and watch pornography constantly. He went under a different
name, Robbie Thompson, for privacy reasons and because he wasn't happy
with himself and didn't want to be known as AJ or Alex. So he would
have to introduce himself at meetings and people started calling him
Rob Thomas and he was like "Hey ya'll can't call me that!!"
since that's the Matchbox 20 guy and he didn't want any confusion to
go around. So then they called him monkey boy etc..
* And rehab taught him so much and they label you based on the
condition you are in and by the end, he would introduce himself at
meetings saying "Hi I'm Robbie Thomas, excessive alcoholic, sex ,
love, relationship addict, depression, compulsive spender etc.."
Before he didn't know he had all those problems and so the rehab
process made him learn so much about himself that he never knew
before.
* In rehab, they go in for 28 days and to break the ice and people
come out and say they were abused and some have to go into the trauma
track and they have to stay another 30 days. He said he's glad he
didn't have to go in the trauma track. He said one girl (he won't say
her name) who went through the track was raped by her dad at 14 and
they had her reenact the scene with another guy to show how she would
fight back because that helps her deal with it. Jojo was shocked this
girl was raped and AJ said he's glad he didn't meet her father because
he would have wringed his neck. He was disgusted.
* They had him take an anger management class because he has a bad
temper (not anymore though) where he had to take out his frustrations
on the padding and pillows about his dad and stuff. So while doing
that, he was crying, screaming, laughing.. all these emotions were
going through him.
* Jojo played the Ketchup song and he said when he first heard it, he
couldn't tell if it's a joke or if it's real. He gave a shout out to
Corky, Rene Elizondo (his golfing buddy and his sponser), his future
mother in law, and Daisy, Tank but they don't know what the radio is
and his bird who flew away.
* "Help me" was number 2 on the countdown. He thinks Nick's
song is cool and he wishes he did it first. He said "the kid
wanted to do it and he's been want to do something on his own for a
while." He doesn't know about the other guys since he doesn't
know their honest feelings but he supports him and he loves him like a
little brother. He said initially he was pissed off at Nick because
they were supposed to start recording in April. Because their record
company decided to work on his solo album, Nick was tied up and
"they can't do the record without all 5 of them since it just
doesn't work that way." So that's why they don't have a cd out
this year. He didn't seem to happy with Jive and he said the reason
the cd is not out now is "not because of Nick but because of our
lovely record company". He said Nick spoke to AJ and Kevin and
Nick has learned his lesson and got it out of his system and he told
AJ and Kevin he doesn't like being on his own and he misses his
brothers. And that's where he thinks Nick belongs.. with BSB.
* Told his story with the bees. He went out in the forest/retreat area
with Sarah and his machete. She would walk like 20 feet in front of
him and he would start chopping trees and branches as he walked and
she told him he didn't need to do that because she was so far away
from him. He grabbed onto a tree and he dropped 20 feet onto the
pavement and there were covered with bees and stuff and he started
screaming "what the hell is that?" Turns out they fell in a
hive and they started screaming and taking off their clothes in the
middle of the retreat and bees were in his underwear as well as her
hair. So they were half naked in the street and AJ is running around
trying to get cars to stop but nobody didn't want to stop for him
because he had no clothes on and a machete in his hand. So they called
Sarah's bridesmaid who helped them out.
* He asked Jojo if single people have dirty backs. Also asked if a
duck eats before it goes in the water, does it get the cramps? Why is
it that the people have to take a newspaper, magazine to the bathroom
when they do number 2?
* He respects Eminem and he thinks he's a genius and an amazing writer
and when he comes out solo, he wants to release stuff as Eminem did
where he's real and everything and honest about how he feels. He wants
to tell people what they want to know and don't want to know. His
first single he would love to be a single with Eminem. Jojo asked what
his album would be like and he said he doesn't want to do rock, pop,
hip hop.. but would like to do something that strictly for himself and
his fans and he would love to do "rock funk"
* He talked about the music industry and was asked if music lacks a
reality factor. He used American Idol has an example. He said as much
as he loves the show and loves Kelly Clarkson, shows like that can
leave a bad taste in people's mouth because now you go back to the
manufacturing process and it's like a pancake. He said there are bands
that are manufactured like BSB and 'Nsync and it's a messy business
with the industry. And now these days he said there's 2 of everything.
He said there's BSB/ 'Nsync. Monica/ Brandy. Christina/Britney,
Vanessa Carlton/Michelle Branch. He thinks record companies like to
have a back up plan in case one fails and he doesn't like that and
it's really stupid..
* Jojo talked about John Edwards show with AJ and Sarah. He said Sarah
has been an avid watcher of John Edwards show because 6 months before
he met Sarah, she lost her sister Becky so she was drawn to the show.
And he said when he's at home, he sneaks off into his bedroom to watch
the show because he was intrigued by it. So he called up his managers
and told them if they could get on the show since it really would mean
a lot to Sarah . 3 days later, his managers called him and contacted
the show and set a date for their appearance. They said they didn't
meet with John before the show so John knew no info on them. And prior
to the show, John goes into a room by himself and medidates.. Also AJ
said that when he met John, John said his nieces were big fans of BSB
and there were going to freak out.
* He said Enrique is with his former management and Jojo mentioned how
Enrique brings girls on stage asked if BSB pick who they bring on
stage. AJ said security picks girls on stage and sometimes on tour,
security and crew used to play jokes on them and dress up in drag. And
when they would bring girls on stage, it would really be like a 40
year old crew member dressed like a girl and AJ said it was hard to
sing INBYH to them in cases like that.
* He wouldn't change anything in his life because this is the path God
has chosen for him and it's the path he's supposed to remain on and
he's grateful and lucky that he didn't kill someone or kill himself
during his addiction days. He said he was meant to find his future
wife. And he said if "you can't learn from your mistakes then
you're clinically insane."
* He said he does go to BSB chats and the easiest way for people to
believe it's him is if he gets their phone number and calls them at
like 3 am on the east coast and say it's him. He said he's getting
married on Valentine's Day in California and there will be press and
media and they're trying to send out invitations now.
Top
of Page
Page
1
Page
2
Page
3
Page
4
Page
5
Page
7
Home
|
|
